CIRCLE OF GIULIO ROMANO (1499-1546)

TWO STUDIES OF NUDE MALE FIGURES
Possibly for a Judgement or Fall scene
One inscribed to support verso Artisto circolo Romano
Pen & ink with faint chalk underdrawing, heightened with white, on laid paper laid to a support sheet of laid paper
The first: 18.4 x 25 cm | The second: 17.5 x 24.8 cm
Framed: 37 x 44.5 cm
 
PROVENANCE:
Property of a Lady, Concord, Mass., U.S.A.
 
 
 
 
The present pair of works do not relate directly to any of Romano's paintings in Mantua, nor to any further works, and appear therefore to be original studies for as-yet untraced works. The style - both in terms of the handling and the application and choice of media - suggest an artist in the circle of Romano however, and it seems very likely that the artist was informed both by the iconic frescoes in the Palazzo Te and perhaps by Michelangelo's Last Judgement in Rome. 
 
We are grateful to Dr Rhoda Eitel-Porter and Prof. Thomas DaCosta Kauffman for their assistance in cataloguing these works and providing opinions on the attribution.